The Living With HIV forum is open to those who are infected with or directly affected by HIV.

Our Moderators reserve the right to interpret who is "affected" on a case by case basis with a view to preserving the good order of these forums.

Please be aware that while the Living With Forum is a place where we tolerate robust debate, we will not tolerate undue personal attacks.

About the POZ Forums

Whether you are HIV positive yourself, or one of your friends or family is living with HIV, you have come to the right place for support and information. Feel free to ask questions or even just come here to vent if that's what you need. Living with HIV can be a rollercoaster ride of emotions and no matter what you're going through, there's sure to be a forum member - or twenty! - who can empathise.

Be sure to check out the other sections of POZ. You will find links to various sections across the top of any forum page.

In the Lessons section you will find a wealth of information about living with HIV, from starting treatment to disclosure and just about every other thing you need to know.

In the Drugs section you will find every drug used to treat HIV infection, as well as the drugs used to treat side-effects and opportunistic infections.

Don't forget to check out the Blogs, written by fellow forum members. The News section will keep you up to date and you can also sign up for the AIDSmeds.com weekly newsletter to receive the latest news via your email inbox.

We hope you find the POZ Forums and website to be your one-stop shop for HIV/AIDS information and support. We are pleased you joined us and we look forward to hearing from you and getting to know you.

The POZ Forums Moderator Team

(Please read on for information on Posting Guidelines.)

POZ Forum Moderators:

Posting Guidelines

[x]Please be courteous of other members. (Abusive language and/or flame-baiting will not be tolerated. Please see post number five in this thread for more information)

[x]Please feel free to voice your opinion. We fully support free speech in these forums as long as you do not become abusive.

[x]Please keep your replies on the topic of the thread you are posting in. Going off-topic is considered thread hijacking and is not considered good forum ettiquette.

[x]While these Forums allow for members to post photos, message threads that contain photos can take a long time for dial-up (modem) users to download. When posting an information-based message (as oppossed to more social-based messages in the Off Topic Forum), please consider using the attachment option.

[x]If you are having problems with another forum member, you have two options. One, you can use the Report to Moderator link found at the bottom of any post. Two, you can put that forum member on Ignore by using the link that appears at the bottom of the user information next to their post. You can unignore a member by going into your profile and taking them off the ignore list.

Thank you for your cooperation,The POZ Forums Moderator Team

POZ Forum Moderators:

Time Out Policy

Sometimes discussions in the POZ forums get heated. While we encourage a free exchange of ideas and debate, we cannot allow discussions to become heated to the point where they become abusive. The POZ Time Out (TO) policy will be implemented when members need some time to cool off. This policy will be acted upon at the moderators' discretion.

The Am I Infected forum has its own Time Out policy which does not apply to the rest of the forums. However, the Time Out policy outlined here will also apply to any member of the POZ forums posting in the Am I Infected forum, or any other forum at POZ.

A warning will be issued publicly in the thread, to a member or members, where there is a problem. In the case of severe abuse, the moderators reserve the right to go straight to a TO. Certain behaviours may also result in an immediate, complete ban (see the list below).

Only one warning will be issued before a TO is given; a TO will be given if the warning is ignored.

In the case of a previous warning being given with a time elapse between offences, the moderators reserve the right to issue another warning or give a TO, depending on the circumstances, at their discretion.

While the moderators may be more flexible where warnings are concerned, a TO will always stand on record. For example, if you have had one TO, your next TO will be counted as your second, no matter how much time has elapsed between the two. You may accumulate several warnings over time.

Being Timed Out means that you will not be able to log into your POZ forum account. This means you cannot post messages in threads or access your Private Messages. You will only be able to read the forums as a guest. Creating a new account to get around a TO will result in an immediate and permanent ban.

A first TO will result in not being able to log in for 7 days (one week).

A second TO will result in not being able to log in for 30 days (approximately 1 month).

A third TO will result in not being able to log in for 90 days (approximately 3 months).

The 4th and subsequent TOs will result in not being able to log in for 180 days (approximately 6 months).

Time outs that were given before the modified policy was published are still valid and will count toward those members' overall TO record.

Offences that may result in a warning and/or TO include abusive language, personal attacks, threats, and starting threads or posting comments that are designed to provoke an angry response - a practice known as flame-baiting (see a definition at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flamebait). If you find yourself wondering if you will be warned/TOd over a comment, it's probably best to not make the comment. You will not be warned/TOd over stating your opinion in a respectful manner, without personal attacks.

Posting unacceptable comments, as outlined above, and editing them out later (to avoid being warned or TOd) will be noticed by the moderators and will not be tolerated.

Actions that may result in an immediate and permanent ban include the following:

1) HIV/AIDS denialists. Any member who posts denialists propaganda -- including direct links to information produced by denialist entities or language encouraging members to research denialism -- will be banned immediately. More benign questions or comments about denialism, especially when raised by a long-term member of the Forums, will be handled on a case-by-case basis.

2) Overt marketing of a proven or unproven modality for the treatment of HIV/AIDS. New members will be banned immediately; older members will be warned first.

3) Duplicate accounts and sock-puppetry. Warning first to individuals with an open existing account; an immediate ban issued to individuals who are timed out and attempt to create a second account.

4) Threatening or harassing the moderators of the Forums. Immediate ban or time out. If a member has an issue with a moderators decision please send a PM or use the report to moderator feature and you're concerns will be considered. Starting threads or sending harassing PM's questioning a moderators decision will result in a warning and the thread will immediately be locked. If a member persist harassing a moderator they will then be given a 7 day time out. If a forum member returns after a time out and continues the harassment they will be given a 30 day time out. There are no 3rd time outs or warnings, if a member continues the harassment it will result in a permanent ban.

5) Any threatened legal action against the moderators and/or Smart+Strong, or any of the staff at Smart+Strong. Immediate ban.

6) A physical threat leveled at any member of the Forums. Immediate ban.

7) Sexual harassment of any member or moderator. Warning for first offense; immediate ban for subsequent offenses.

Moderator decisions to time-out or ban a member of these forums are joint decisions and are thoroughly discussed beforehand. We sincerely hope that warnings, TOs and bans will be exceptional, rare occurrences. We do not want to exclude people from these forums but at the same time, we need to keep this place safe for all.

We would like to remind everyone at this time to use the "Report to moderator" link rather than respond to inappropriate behavior yourself. If you choose to send a moderator report, please know that the reports are strictly confidential and only seen by the moderators. If you wish to have feedback on any report you send, please say so in the report.

You also have the Ignore button, located below a member's name to the left of their posts, at your disposal. Silence often speaks much louder than words. If you choose to put someone on ignore, you can always un-ignore them later by going into your profile and taking them off the ignore list.

Thank you for your cooperation,

The POZ Forum Moderator Team

POZ Forum Moderators:
Private Messages (PMs) are a means to privately communicate with other forum members. They are a way to get to know each other a little more intimately and perhaps exchange contact information you may not want everyone to have.

The ability to use Private Messages (PMs) in these forums is a privilege, not a right.

Using PMs as a means to abuse or personally attack other members will NOT be tolerated. PMs are NOT meant to be a way to avoid being warned or given a Time Out from the public forums.

If you find yourself the subject of an attack, abuse, or general misuse of PMs, we need to know about it.

In the lower right-hand corner of any PM you receive, you will see Report to Admin. By clicking this link, you will be able to inform us of the abuse.

It's no use complaining in the public forums that you have received abusive PMs. We cannot and will not act on this information unless you actually take the time and effort to report the abuse through the proper channels.

Warnings and PM Time Outs will be given when abuse and/or misuse is reported, in much the same way as they are given in the public forums. The main difference with the PM Time Outs is that they will only apply to your ability to send and receive PMs. Please review the post above concerning warnings and Time Outs.

A first PM TO will result in not being able to send or receive PMs for 7 days (one week).

A second PM TO will result in not being able to send or receive PMs for 30 days (approximately 1 month).

A third PM TO will result in not being able to send or receive PMs for 90 days (approximately 3 months).

The 4th and subsequent PM TOs will result in not being able to send or receive PMs for 180 days (approximately 6 months).

As with the Time Out policy in the main forums, this PM TO policy will be acted upon at the moderators' discretion.